Don't Ever forget

by Terry 17 Replies latest jw experiences

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  Terry

  Don't Ever forget:

  1.How the christian religion behaved when it held all the power of the state along with the moral provenance. Men were not free to suggest

  areas of improvement except at the risk of torture, banishment, prison or even death.

  Don't Ever forget:

  2.People who believe sincerely that they are not only right but sanctioned by a Living God are capable of doing almost anything to anybody.

  Don't Ever forget:

  3.Religious zealots want us to live under the scrutiny of invisible prying eyes in heaven 24/7. There is no privacy possible. They want us to acknowledge even our own thoughts are subject to inspection, condemnation and divine reprisal unless we smother heaven with obsequious and lavish praise; constant pleas for pardon.

  Don't Ever forget:

  4. Those who dearly love us because God has shown them love are instantly capable of demonstrating total contempt for us at the mere suggestion that same

  God finds us inappropriate.

  Don't Ever forget:

  5.If we surrender our mind to the control of others for the reason they claim heavenly approval, don't be surprised when there is nothing left of us when we grow old and they no longer find us useful. Those final desperate years are our payment!

  Don't Ever forget:

  6. Intellectual honesty begins only when we are willing to be wrong about the very things we are most convinced are true. It all comes down to evidence and not emotion.

  Don't Ever forget:

  7.We all die. Our time is short. Nobody escapes. Every minute counts. Why not value what is real more than what is imaginary and exploitative of our fear?
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  compound complex

  Thanks, Terry, for these reminders. I am making every minute count!

  We all die. Our time is short. Nobody escapes. Every minute counts. Why not value what is real more than what is imaginary and exploitative of our fear?

  CoCo Counts
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  Lady Lee

  excellent Terry
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  thetrueone

  Well said Terry, couldn't agree more on your analyst of religion.
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  Yan Bibiyan

  Great synopsis!

  " Intellectual honesty begins only when we are willing to be wrong about the very things we are most convinced are true..."

  This one struck a particularly sensitive cord. With your permission, I am going to print it out and put it in my office...
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  Terry

  I started a kind of habit several years ago. That of trying to avoid statements of the absolute such as "All so-and-so's " because the exception tests the rule so easily.

  Lumping everything together is lazy and leads to errors of thought and practice!

  It is a shorthand convenience to heap every similar thing into a predictable absolute. Then, dismiss the totality with an airy wave of the hand.

  Few people we will meet in life are totally wrong about everything. It is far more likely even the most self-decieved of us is pretty much convinced their view of the world is very close to correct.

  We have the impulse to declare "true" what we already think when it is said by others.

  We have the impulse to declare "false" what we disapprove when it is advocated by others.

  We think we know what a Democrat thinks or a Republican believes--when human beings are far more complicated than that. Humans are a maze of self-contradiction.

  What facts we DO know are useless if we don't apply them.

  Becoming emotionally invested in what is best for us is highly unlikely in the long run when we can chase after a false promise with a larger reward.

  How can we police ourselves without becoming an obsessive control freak filled with self-questioning doubt?

  The best first step I can think of is this:

  1.Develop a habit of stopping to really examine the opposite view without making it an excuse to ignore it.

  2.Listen carefully to what is being said and how it is expressed with interested skepticism. Especially if we're a proponent.

  3.Find two positive things to say before we dare utter one negative.

  You know what we forgot most easily?

  What we don't want to face, don't want to know and aren't likely to approve of.

  How honest is that?
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  Finkelstein

  Pursuing true intellectual honesty is a complement to ones own personal integrity.
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  cult classic

  Excellent points worth remembering and sharing.
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  sd-7

  Why do I feel like I just got intellectually dunked on? In a good way? I like it. I like it a lot. You've got a keen mind, Terry.

  --sd-7
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  Heaven

  Don't Ever Forget..... Knowledge Defeats Fear.